An inspiring poem

Our Deepest Fear
By Marianne Williamson

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.

We ask ourselves
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small
Does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine,
As children do.
We were born to make manifest
The glory of God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us;
It's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we're liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.

Note: This short, inspirational poem about life is taken from Marianne Williamson's book A Return to Love.

SchoolTube - PS22 CHORUS 2009 "Viva La Vida" by COLDPLAY

SchoolTube - PS22 CHORUS 2009 "Viva La Vida" by COLDPLAY

This is awesome and inspiring. We need a dose of joyous children every day. I agree with Obama when he says we need to live up to the expectations of our children. How do you want to inspire others?

Tennis anyone?

I started playing tennis when I was pre-teen.  I really liked tennis.  I liked that I played with one other person and yet it was also a private game.  I played tennis with just about anyone who would play with me.  This is what I noticed.  When I played with someone at my skill level we spent a lot of time lobbing the ball around with an occasional, surprisingly skilled volley.  When that happened it was pretty exciting.  My partner and I would be so surprised that we would try to do better, yet ended up doing the same thing over and over again, lobbing, volley, lobbing, volley.   The challenge and learning were random.  When I played with someone not as skilled as me, the whole game was just running around the court chasing balls.  Not very fun nor challenging and at times very frustrating.  When I played with someone with more skills but not totally mastered (like a pro), I found myself pushing harder to learn and keep up the pace.  I was excited to see my skills growing as well as my self-confidence.

Now I ask you, who have you been playing the game of life with?  Are you surrounding yourself around positive, energizing people who will raised you up and challenge your skills?  Or are you playing with people who will bring you down or leave you in the game that will never change?  Who do you want to be?

New Thoughts

Instead of New Year resolutions about changing external things, let us focus changing internal thoughts that are negative, critical, and/or shaming.  Observe those judgmental thinking patterns that create neural ruts in our mind.  Choose to go down a different path and walk down it over and over and over again. CREATE A NEW RUT.   It is your choice to go down  the different path.  Remember, the walk of a thousand miles starts with the first step.  This is the first step.